RNA Detection Technologies

With the increasing importance of molecular diagnostics in the
detection of disease and monitoring of treatment, there is a crucial
need for detection technologies that can be incorporated into existing
diagnostic schemes and overcome the inadequacies of current methods.
SomaGenics has developed two technology platforms that address
important aspects of diagnostic detection of both mRNA and small RNA
molecules.

miR-ID® microRNA Detection Platform

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are of increasing interest as potential
biomarkers and drug targets. SomaGenics is developing novel methods for
detecting and quantifying levels of miRNAs in cells and tissues. These
methods, which can be applied to all small regulatory RNAs, provide
significant improvements over alternative methods.

miR-ID® is a novel platform for detecting miRNA, with no
reliance on previous miRNA detection methods. It provides better
sensitivity, specificity, and versatility than competing methods, and
at a lower cost. In addition, miR-ID is the only PCR based platform to
distinguish small RNAs with commonly occurring end modifications. These
modifications include 5' triphosphates (found, for example, on
secondary siRNAs in C. elegans), and particularly 2'-OMe (found, for
example, at the 3' ends of piRNAs in animals and all small RNAs in
plants). 2'-O-methylation is thought to play a role in both the
stability and function of small RNAs, and there is a clear need for the
ability to both detect these modified small RNAs and to differentiate
them from their unmodified versions. Currently available platforms lack
this capability.

Comparison of miR-ID and the leading competitor for small RNA detection

Sensitivity

The
miR-ID miRNA detection platform provides a higher signal-to-noise ratio than the
leading competitors, while using unmodified DNA primers, single-fluor
detection (SYBR green or EVA green), and no specialized probes. These features also help keep costs low and allow rapid
development of assays for miRNAs of interest.

Figure 1: qPCR detection of lin-4 by miR-ID and the leading competitor.

Specificity

miR-ID
provides unmatched discrimination between miRNA isoforms with single
nucleotide differences. There is virtually no cross-talk between miRNAs
from the same family, as well as superior discrimination between pre-
and mature miRNAs.

Quantification of End-Modified Small RNAs

miR-ID
is the first platform that can quantitatively discriminate between
small RNAs with the same sequence but differing terminal modifications.
This is particularly useful in plant miRNAs, where discrimination
between O-Methyl modified and unmodified miRNA is of considerable
interest.

Convenience

miR-ID
can accommodate a variety of RNA sources without purification,
including tissue or cell lysates. Where extracts of total RNA are to be
analyzed, no enrichment for small RNAs is needed: miR-ID works as well
with total RNA as with enriched fractions. To enable point-of-care
diagnostic assays without the need for expensive and cumbersome
thermo-cyclers, an isothermal variant of miR-ID is in development.